Atlanta learning on the fly as Pfeiffer takes over

Monday

Jun 17, 2013 at 10:09 AMJun 17, 2013 at 10:12 AM

Ryan Ronan @RyanRonan_KDE

QUEEN CITY, Mo. – The Lady Hornets last year completed one of their most successful seasons in recent memory. Atlanta ended their almost decade long losing streak to La Plata and won a district tournament game, so all was looking up for a team that would be returning the majority of players team next season.

Then out of nowhere head coach Jason Daniels was told that he would not have his contract renewed. Daniels who was an assistant coach for Hall of Famer Bob Roberts replaced Roberts when he moved on to Cairo. Daniels has since taken a position at Novinger.

It took a while but last week the ladies met their new head coach, Nick Pfeiffer who was named to replace Daniels not only as head coach of the Lady Hornets, but also as athletic director, boys basketball and baseball coach.

“I thought it was time. I have been an assistant coach for a while now and Atlanta seemed like it was a good fit. I have known Mr. Perkins from when he was at Macon County all the way back when I played,” said Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer most recently served as assistant coach to Kirksville boys head coach Tyler Martin and was on Andy Jackson’s staff for the Tiger baseball team.

“I am really looking forward to having the chance to see what I can do with my own program,” said Pfeiffer, a Green City and Northwest Missouri State alum.

Ashton Ross is a main contributor for the Lady Hornets and going into her senior year she is now focused on making adjustments so her team can continue last season’s success.

“We are just trying to work together as a team and get some younger players involved. Right now we are still getting to know coach Pfeiffer and he is still getting to know us, but I think we are all really excited to play for him,” said Ross.

Although Pfeiffer has been with the team for only about a week, they seem to already be on the same page when it comes to what they want out of this summer.

“This summer we are just trying to get to know each other. It might be a cliché but we are just going to focus on the fundamentals, and if we can fine tune those things we should be pretty successful,” said Pfeiffer.

Ross was not only a big factor in Atlanta’s success last season, but also helped turn the program around and is looking to take it even further in her final season.

“Since a lot of us are seniors we want to go out and give it our all and try and take over this year and make sure everybody knows us,” said Ross.

Having a senior laden team that has had success allows Pfeiffer to come in and make tweaks and not have to overhaul the whole program.

“I know that they have the talent and they have had success in the past and that they were taught well and I just want to expand on that and have them understand the mental side of the game,” said Pfeiffer.